Bite-sized Project: Embroidered Cards

Here are some of the embroidered cards I've been making. They're a little addictive. I think the appeal lies in the instant gratification provided by such a quick project. More colors and messages coming soon. (Must give credit where credit is due. Cards inspired by the talented kiwipunch.)

Other tidbits:

- Jello Snack Cups with Antioxidents? (tastes mildly like cough syrup)

- I'm relatively certain Evan has not finished a book since we've been together. That's not a judgement, so much as me noting an apparent condemnation of every book I've recommended.

- My life has improved by 10% since Picasa came out for Macs.

- Another program (I think it's freeware?) that I've been digging is Schoolhouse, which keeps all of your class assignments and notes organized.

- Last night I started playing a DS game called Soul Bubbles in which you are a "Soul Herder" in training. It is your duty to pick up souls (and star dust) with your protective bubbles and blow them towards their destination. Weird? Yes. Adorable? Definitely.

Why you be hating on MTG?

Somehow this escaped my eye until this morning...

(a) What does the T stand for?

(b) What is so bad about Ron Howard?
(c) You forgot the combat damage and toughness values.

Tiny Soft Things to Love

Meet Milton and Puddle. They are the cutestsweetestsoftest. This is about as big as they get–double cute, right? However, their freaking wheel is keeping the whole house up at night with its unbelievable loudness, so the goal is to find a truly silent wheel.

The Stitch Spectacular show opened on Friday! I can't wait to see pictures of all the other work. The bits and pieces I've seen so far have been amazing.

I've now had one period of each one of my classes for the semester. Pretty much what I expected. Should be about the same as last semester in terms of workload, stress, etc. Thanks to the power of the R4 card, though, I can at least pretend to study via video game by playing My French Coach on DS.

I loved the new banner so much that I actually made a papercut of the school emblem and framed it. In other news of procrastination, I've made many more embroidered cards than I will ever need/use, and I've decided to try to learn calligraphy (an effort that proved futile and boring in past attempts at ages 9, 11, and 13).

Jessica and I are attempting to create a work-out schedule for the semester. This is especially timely because I've made a bet/pact with Evan involving each of us getting more buff by the middle of April. If only one of us succeeds, it works like a normal bet in terms of winning/losing something of value. If we both fail, each of us gives up something we love for one month. If we both succeed, we treat ourselves to something we wouldn't normally spend money on. Unfortunately since the inception of this agreement on Friday night, Theresa brought home pizza for dinner, I used Taco Bell to cure a hangover, and Devon made bacon brownies (yes, that's right. Brownies with pieces of bacon in them).

Speaking of Devon, her new boy, Will, washed our dishes. I consider this a vast improvement over the one who brought over two bottles of liquor, a bottle of wine, and a twelve-pack the first time we met him. We're on the right track.

Fresh Start

• First off, for those of you reading through an RSS reader, click through and check out the newly redesigned banner.
  
• I just got another couple of bolts from Moda, including "A Day in the Life" from the Lush collection. So rad!
• Picasa (beta) has finally been released for Mac. Thank you. I loathe iPhoto, and Aperture was too much program for me. Hopefully all my photo importing issues will be solved and it'll be smooth sailing from here on out.
• Al Franken has officially won the Minnesota Senate race!
• I'm sick, and so is our car. Savannah is out.

Holiday Project: Aviatrix Bunnies

Here are some of the bunnies I made as Christmas presents for the kids in Evan's family. They're so adorable it was hard to send them off to their new homes. They're handmade from the bunny pattern I won a few months ago from Wee Wonderfuls.

The Longest Post

This no photos thing is really cramping my style. I don't like to post without an image to share, because, well, it's boring. And the whole point is supposed to be sharing antics and projects, and I can't share projects without photos. Not that I've got any projects going. I've spent all of my winter break being social and merry. After Christmas in Chapel Hill, I came home for Wedding Expo 2008 and had a hell of a good time. I met some new people, caught up with some folks I don't see too often, and made merry in style with my friends. Yes, I wound up with badly bruised legs after a run-in with a drainage ditch, but I had an absolute blast.

Jacob came into town and Evans, Melissa, Jacob, and I got ridiculous for a couple of nights. Then it was off to Pickens for the annual New Years festivities. Pork was eaten, fires were built, sparklers were lit. Daniel, et al, made an amazing flaming "labyrinth" that I could describe, but it wouldn't do it justice. Little fires glowing everywhere, though. Beautiful.

Jacob, Joy, Evan, and I (among others) broed down until the wee hours, and when I went to bed I didn't even have to sleep on the floor. When I woke up the first time, Joy provided me with much-needed advil. When I woke up the second time, she turned to me sleepily and said, "I dreamt of us."

I'm getting back into comic books, trying to catch up on the haps in the Marvel universe and reading some stuff that I never got into before. It's fun, but I can see throwing a lot of money at this form of entertainment, which I'm not all that stoked on. I've also been hand-embroidering some cards, and doing other small projects, just gearing up for the beginning of the semester. It's hard to regret not getting more done when everything's been so great.

Oh, I almost forgot! Evan got me two Chinese dwarf hamsters for Christmas, Milton and Puddle. They're pretty much the cutest things ever in the whole world. I've never been that into hamsters, but I defy you to not lovelovelove them. Pocket creatures!

Frames: The Good and the Bad

I took my pillows over to Urban Standard before I left for NC. Possibly after the holidays you'll be able to find some of my work there, but we'll see. Regardless, I picked up some awesome cupcakes, which it turns out are just as good if you drop the box and smoosh them.

Evan and I attended Robb's and Lydia's respective bachelor and bachelorette parties last weekend. Despite having one of the stranger nights I've had in a while, I had a lot of fun. The boys went to a strip club and the girls went to a drag show. I guarantee you that the ladies we saw were about ten times hotter than the ones they encountered. I <3 Miss Jericho.

Congratulations to Robb and Lydia whose wedding festivities we'll be attending this Saturday. Looking forward to seeing everyone after being away for a few days, and to hanging out with some folks who live out of town. Speaking of which, Matt and Charlie got an apartment nearby and will be moving in at the beginning of the month. Way to get things done.

I got my framed pieces back from Forstall, and though they did a good job with what I asked them for, I was predictably disappointed with the frame of the Self-portrait. Ampersands came out awesome, as expected. Win some, lose some and all that. And hey, you guys have not given me any advice on whether or not to go to Savannah for the opening of the show, so I'll give you some of the pros and cons I've thought of.

Pros: getting to see the exhibit, meeting fellow embroiderers, having a mini-vacation to a place I'm interested in visiting

Cons: long drive, Evan would have to take the afternoon off work, it's the Friday directly after classes start for the semester